SLC Fire 2011

So, I don't blog when I'm stressed.  I start posting about things in everyday life, but this big stress follows me around and creeps into my posts.  So I just take a break.  Like when I first found out I was pregnant with Wes, and took a 4 month blogging break.  I just can't keep secrets, or keep my emotions to myself.  So I have to take a break entirely.

Heaven knows the people I've harassed on the phone for the last 2 months know that.  I think every conversation has started with "Ugh...:::whine:::...I have no patience...when are we going to knoooow?....why can't they just tell us he's hiiiiiiired??"

So today's the day!!!  The day I've been waiting to blog for 2 months, and the day our family has been waiting for for like, 5 years. 

Marshall has been hired by Salt Lake City Fire Department!!!!!!

So sit down, pull up a chair, get comfy, and let me tell you a story about why I think my husband is completely amazing.

A little over 5 years ago, in December 2005, Marshall was finishing up his semester at BYU.  He was studying psychology.  When we got married, he knew he wanted to become a therapist.  The plan was easy: finish a BS in psych, go to grad school, and then become rich.  Easy right?

Well, one day during finals week, Marshall came home and told me that he didn't want me to harass him about picking grad schools to apply to anymore.  In fact, he didn't even want to keep studying psychology anymore.  Ummm, okay.  My little newish-wed world was thrown for a loop (if only I knew how much of a loop it'd be!)

Me, being the ever supportive wife: "Well, okay, you can pick a new major.  What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Him, sheepish: "It's dumb.  You won't believe me."
Me, impatient: "Out with it!"
Him: "Well, ever since high school, I wanted to be a firefighter like my wrestling coaches.  A lot of them were firefighters."

So Marsh had a quarter-life crisis, and I encouraged him to do what he needed to.  I honestly half thought it'd be a phase.  I mean, aren't firefighters all big dumb guys who can't get into college, so they just do what they can?  Certainly not the kind of people Marshall would have much in common with....I mean the guy had a scholarship to BYU!

I started googling that night.  Looking back, it now seems silly just how little I knew about something I feel like a complete pro at now.  I remember reading firefighting was really competitive.  Like thousands of applicants for 10-20 positions.  And that you should go to academy yourself before being hired and getting all certified so that you're competitive once you apply.  And, OMG, did you know that firefighters had to be EMTs?

Yeah, like I said, I knew NOTHING.

But luckily, one of the best fire science programs in the US just happened to be located in Provo, so Marshall got all transferred over to UVU and started his prerequisites.  And then, the unexpected happened.  He loved it!  He did a semester and was completely looking forward to the next! 

So we were committed.  Therapist was officially no longer the path our family would take. 

Marshall finished fire academy in April 2007, and the lucky thing was that with all of his generals done at BYU, he magically had 2 associates degrees.  He then did some summers of wildland (just awful!) and started working as an EMT at Gold Cross.  That was our temporary plan while he started interviewing with fire departments.

Ah the hiring process!  A new thing I got to learn all about.  Fire departments have a multi step process to create a list of applicants. 

First step: the written test.  Like mini SAT with some fire based questions thrown in.  But a lot of grass:green, sky:____.  Marsh always passed these easily. 

Next step: the top 100 or so applicants move on to the oral board.  This is an interview in front of a panel of 3 or 4 firefighters who rank you on a scale of 1-5 for each of 5 questions.  Each person gets the same questions, and then you are scored against everyone else answering those same questions. 

Next is a physical agility test.  Here's a link to a typical CPAT examination.  It's pretty intense, but Marshall has done these a million times.  So it's no worry.

After this, the applicants are ranked on a list.  You know, 1 through 100 or whatever.  When the department is prepared to hire a new hire class of candidates, those applicants at the top of the list are called in for a final chief's interview.  Usually the department will invite 2-3 applicants for each position available, so 20 to 30 guys if there are 10 slots open.  You meet with the top 2 or 3 officials at the department, and it's a little less formal than the oral board.  They are just trying to get to know you, and I don't believe they are scoring your answers.  You also do a background check, IQ test, psych profile, uniform fitting, etc, at this stage of the process.  A complete physical and drug screening.

Then come the job offers.  Marshall has made it to the top 20 of hiring lists many times.  But with budget cuts, many places haven't hired in years.  Or hire just a couple guys.  He has made it to the chiefs interview 3 times.  The second time, he was given a conditional job offer as an alternate.  Meaning we went to orientation, met all the higher ups, got all excited, but ultimately they didn't have the budget to take him into the academy, so at the last minute he wasn't able to be hired.  His 3rd chief's interview was this month, with SLC Fire.  And this time, the offer isn't for alternate.  It's the real deal! 

These last 5 years have been rough.  These hiring processes are done just once every 2 years, and each step is like a month apart from the last.  There have been many tears shed, and many times we've wondered if we made the right choice to pursue our dreams instead of the more stable option. 

Today when he finally got that call.....  I just can't explain it.  Tears.  Lots and lots of tears.  Carly keeps asking me why I'm sad, and I have to explain that I am sooo overcome with happiness.  I am happy that it finally happened.  Happy that we stuck with the process.  Happy that Marshall is finally being recognized for his hard work.  Overwhelmed with gratitude.  There are so so many people who never get the call, never get the job offer. 

But mostly, I swell with pride.  How many people do you know who actually follow their dreams?  Who actually do a job that they love, who picked a career wholly based on what they wanted to do day in a day out- not just on salary or obligation?  Not too many people.  I am so proud of the courage that Marshall had to walk away from BYU and pursue his dream, even though it seemed crazy.  SO proud of the example he is setting for our children.  We always tell Carly that she can be whatever she wants to be when she grows up.  Literally anything!  This week, it's a mountain climber and a mommy.  And if that is what she really wants to do, I'll do everything in my power to support her to accomplish that.  There are no ceilings on our dreams.  You pick a goal- a career- even not knowing the first step to get there, and you can achieve it!  With enough persistence and dedication, you can literally be whatever you want to be!  I am so proud of Marshall for setting a clear example for our children that pursuing your dreams is realistic.

So congratulations, my dear husband.  It's been a long road.  But we did it!  And I love you for your courage and dedication.  You are the best husband and father, and you are going to be the best firefighter that Salt Lake City has ever seen!

I know it's April Fool's Day

But this is no prank!

#3 should be here sometime around November 17th this year, if all goes well.  Right now he/she is busy growing and getting stronger, and has a strong heartbeat of 120 beats per minute.  And he/she's the size of a small blueberry- 1/3 of an inch right now. 

This pregnancy was a complete surprise, and got off to a nerve wracking start because my symptoms included, well, nothing.  I shouldn't say nothing- I am tired all the time.  But I feel great!  No nausea, no heartburn, no food aversions.  My pregnancies are generally on the easier end of the spectrum, but I've only had one other pregnancy with so few symptoms, and I lost that one.  So I was a bit nervous. 

We've closely monitored my progress so far, and had our first ultrasound last week.  That just freaked me out more, because things looked smaller than we thought they should, and there was no heartbeat.  Plus BYU lost that day too- just a bad day all around.  But we went back yesterday afternoon, and this time we saw what we wanted.  A significantly larger baby, and a strong heartbeat!  And a bonus, it's not ectopic!  Yay! 

We are now 7weeks and feeling confident and optimistic.  I'm finally letting myself enjoy the lack of an urge to throw up, for however long it lasts.  And more and more people know- so we thought it was a good time to share with the rest of you.

So I hope you had a happy April Fool's day, and I promise, this one's no joke. 

I'll leave you with the sweetest thing I've seen all week- look at that little heart go! The video is only like 2 seconds long, but just look where I labeled the heart in the picture.

You know what I can't wait for?

Carly to get older. 
But only for one reason- Girl Scout Cookies.

 

I live in the land of large families; in a state with, most likely, the MOST 8-year-old girls per capita.  But somehow I don't know a single Girl Scout. 

How can this be?!
I don't know. 

And usually I don't think about or care that I don't have any 8-year-old girls in my social circle.  Except for today.  When I've got a terrible craving for Girl Scout Cookies, and I realize that cookie season has come and gone, and no one showed up at my door soliciting.  And then I nearly tear up, because how could I have missed yet another cookie season?  How did I not work harder to make 8-year-old friends this last year?  I had these same feelings of regret last March!

And, I mean, it's not just my loss.  It's really a loss for the Girl Scouts of America too.  Did any of you sell cookies?  Do you remember those color coded order forms?

If a Girl Scout were to come to my door, I would make hers look like this. No joke.

How can that not be win-win?

 So now, I wait.  For Carly to hurry up and get old enough to sell cookies.  I still remember when I sold cookies, and my mom was the cookie coordinator (is that a real title?) and our living room was 3 feet buried under cases and cases of cookies. 

Like Christmas. 

Someday, I'll be that cookie coordinator mom.  I can't wait.

Death and three-year-olds

As I mentioned previously, we are reading the Book of Mormon with Carly. It's been going great and has given opportunity to learning more about many life and gospel topics. Sin, repentance, baptism, temples, obedience. It always surprises me which topics or stories spark her interest.

The topic that has had the greatest impact on her?  Death.

It all started when we got to the point where Lehi died. Carly was devastated.
"Nephi's daddy died?! Noooo!"  I explained that, yes, Lehi died. Everyone eventually died.

Wrong way to go.

"Are you going to die?" Yes, Carly, someday I'll die.
Full blown tears and sobbing. "I don't want you do die!!"
Don't worry, I won't die any time soon. People get old before they die.
"Old like grandpas?" Yes, yes! I'll be a grandma first before I die.
A little more hysterical "Will my grandma and grandpa die?"
Ummmm.... yes, someday they'll die. But not anytime soon.
Sobbing. "I don't want them to die!!"
Honey, everyone dies someday. It's a normal part of life.
"Will my daddy die?! I don't want my daddy to die.  I love him too much!"
Yes, he will die too, but not until you are much older. And when we die it's so happy! We get to go to heaven and see all of our family who has already died.
"I'M GOING TO DIE??" Fully distressed at this point.
Yes, someday you'll die too, but not for a very long time. And dying isn't scary or sad.

We hugged it out and I thought that conversation was over. I was wrong.

She has brought up death and questioned Marshall and I repeatedly in the last month whether we are still going to die. Always hoping we'll just lie to her. We've repeatedly acknowledged her fears and then reminded her how normal death is, and how our family is forever so we'll see each other again soon after death. And we've talked about life after death. And about temples and eternity. About how this life is 3 parts, and we are in the 2nd part now, and how it wasn't sad when we were born and left the pre-existence. We've compared it to going on a trip and being reunited later. And really done everything we can to calm her anxiety and not traumatize her any further.

But she still brings it up randomly, and bursts into tears at the thought of one of us or her grandparents dying.

So today we're finishing up 2nd Nephi, and we get to a part about Christ dying. It was just awful. Worse than Lehi dying. "Jesus DIED?! Waaaaa!"

I stopped and we talked about death again. About it's necessity, normalcy. We talked about why Jesus offered to die, because He loved us so much. Talked a bit about the atonement and being free of sin. She was still sniffling when we moved on.

The next chapter was about Resurrection.

Am I really THAT stupid? Really? Why didn't I bring up resurrection any time in this last month?

I explain to Carly that after 3 days, Jesus woke up and His spirit went back into His body, and He was alive again. I explained that Jesus overcame death, and that because He did, we ALL will overcome death someday. I explained that after we die, and our spirits go to Heaven and hang out with our families, after a while we are allowed to go back and get in our bodies again and not be dead anymore.

I watched the BIGGEST smile come across her tear stained face. Puffy, red eyes looked hopeful. "Someday, after you die, you won't be dead anymore?" That's right! After we die, we get to be resurrected and come back to life. Because Jesus did it first.

And it's over! After a month of drawing out my 3-year-old's traumatizing exploration of death, I finally have the answer to her fears. And of course it was the most basic answer. I mean, what comforted Christ's friends when he died? They knew about life after death, but they were still sad. Sad is normal, even when we know how temporary this state is. But seeing resurrection, seeing the promise of eternal life in real-time, that was what comforted Mary at the tomb. And just knowing that it happened comforted my Carly.

Wes has been busy

The difference between boys and girls is just amazing.  Especially since we treat them pretty much the same.  We never tried to "girly up" Carly, and Wes just plays with all of Carly's toys, so he has access to dolls and dresses and the like. 

Anyway, the little guy is just such a boy.  He is so busy, and so laid back, and such fun to just watch.  Lately the new phrase I hear all day is I bonka my head (gibberish gibberish) and then the offending object or person.  So I hear a LOT of "I bonka my head em..o..wa Carly!"  Then he demands kisses.

            I love this little guy!

Getting bit in the face by fellow toddlers



Making faces on the screen

Drawing on the steps

Drawing on the screen

Making new "hats"

And just being worn out by it all.

It's been a busy week for Mr. Wes!

You know those terribly behaved kids you see out in public?

I've decided that they probably aren't normally like that. And just maybe those instances aren't a product of crappy or permissive parenting. In fact, they are probably normally very well-behaved children having an out of character episode.

Yes, must be.

Carly is a bright, articulate, quick little girl. She is normally pretty reasonable, and will comply to a request if you explain calmly why we need to do something. She normally has a desire to please adults and help out.

I can usually walk through stores proudly, while she walks calmly next to the cart holding on to the side. I see the other parents of those terrible children throwing fits and think "see, I'm doing something right!"

Until today.

Yes, today Carly was the WORST child ANYONE has EVER seen in a store. Today it was like a demon possession in the middle of a busy department store.

It started when we first got there. Shopping at 1:30pm without having fed lunch yet = a very bad idea. I was just trying to push through our list and get home, and this was the last stop. And we were just running in to buy one thing! Carly wanted to ride in the cart. But she's way too big, and Wes was in the child seat. So I'm nudging her up the aisles while she mildly whines about what she wants and doesn't want. I'm hissing "come on; we're almost done; we just have to get one thing; I'm sorry there aren't 2 seats; let's go!"

We were buying a spare car seat to leave at the sitter's house, and the box was huge. It teetered on top of the cart and obscured most of my vision. I'm trying to walk down the narrow aisles and not hit anyone while peering around the huge box, and dragging a whiny Carly. I really needed 3 hands- one for Carly, one for the cart, and one to keep the box from falling off.

At this point Carly decides she wants to push the cart. Ugh. Fine. I move up the front and pull/guide from the front so that she doesn't hit anyone.

This really set Carly off. "I want to push it!   You don't touch the cart!   I want to do it ALL BY MYSELF."

I stop, get down on her level, and explain that she can't see and that I need to steer so she can push. We start out again, and once again I hear shrieking "Mommy!  Don't touch the cart!  I do it myself!" I back off a little, and she promptly hit a rack of clothes, over corrects and hits an old lady in a wheelchair. I grab the front and straighten us out and hear "MOMMY!   NO!   I DO IT!"

My urge to kill was rising. It was 2pm, Wes is trying pathetically to fall asleep in the cart, and I can see hunger all over Carly's face. And were still sooo very far from the front of the store. Why in the world is the baby section always in the very back of the store?? Has any mom of young children ever thought, "I'm sure glad I get to haul my kids through the entire store just to buy a box of wipes!" I grab the handle of the cart, tell Carly she can push with me, and try to set a quicker pace.

That's when my kid became possessed. Like the kind of shrieking you'd hope your kid does if he's ever being abducted. Loud enough to easily hear throughout the entire store. Kicking. Yelling "NO!  NO!  NO!" And "MINE!  LET GO!  MINE!" I stop, get down on her level, and remain amazingly calm. I tell her that no one likes to listen to her, and that she has lost the privilege of pushing the cart because she's acting like a psycho behaving poorly.

It doesn't help. Reasoning won't work. There is snot and angry spittle everywhere.


New plan: get out of the store as soon as humanly possible.


I half jog to the registers, dragging a feral, rabid dog behind me. All efforts of maintaining the image of a mother-in-control are gone. We reach the registers, and start waiting in line. Why isn't there an emergency check out line?  Like for when no one else wants you in the store either? You know, screaming child, if you're about to puke, or your water just broke.  Those kinds of things.  Then Carly starts throwing herself bodily against the cart. Man, she's strong when she's mad! I'm doing all I can to brace the cart so it doesn't shoot into the person in front of us.

I grab Carly, plop her down against the magazine rack, and tell her its time for a time out. Remember, still screaming this whole time. In non-English. She spreads out, laying on the ground, and winds her arms around the cart's wheels, still screaming "No!  MINE!" It's been like 10 minutes of screaming, most of it unintelligible. I'm just surprised at this point that it's still about the cart. That's some focus!

And I'm noticing the looks. The ones I would normally give. The ones that say "Whew, glad that's not my kid. My kid would NEVER do that! I must be doing something right." And I want to say "Oh! I know! Where is this kid's parents?" But instead I ask the checker if she wants to keep my child, pay quickly, and grab Carly out of that store.

The screaming continues. Voice hoarse at this point, face red and shining with tears and mucous.

Must
get
to
the
car!

We get to the car, and I release my death grip on Carly's arm. She immediately sinks to the asphalt and begins the thrashing in the parking lot. Great. I lift her up into her seat. She's kicking and hitting...and of course still screaming. I nearly break her arms getting her buckled into her seat, shut the slider, and

 :::sigh::: take a deep breath and enjoy silence for the first time in 25 minutes.

I stood in the parking lot at my cart for a few minutes gathering myself before opening the doors again to get a sleeping Wes into his seat, and wrestling that box into the back. Then I climb in myself and surround myself once more with the horrible noise that is my possessed child.

A quick trip through the drive through feeds the demon and silences her for the first time. As we pull out of the parking lot, I see a police car slowly driving up and down the rows of cars, no doubt looking for the reported child abuse. Then I look in my mirror aimed at the back seat, and see Carly's mottled face, tears still wet on her cheeks, and realize that my perspective has been permanently changed.

Never again will I judge the mother of a screaming child in a store. Never.

Picture of a Tuesday morning

1. It's 11, and we're still in pajamas. I'm obviously not in the office today. Oh, and Carly sans pants? The norm. If I've managed to force her into pants, it's because we are leaving soon to go somewhere.

2. These two are inseparable. Carly wants to dress up in Daddy's shoes? Of course Wes has to then!

3. They just can't leave that shoe basket alone. Or anything else for that matter. Yesterday I spent the day scouring the house. I wonder how long it will take them to destroy it once more.

A closer look

4. We've all been sick around here, and one major symptom has been goopy eyes. All that eye rubbing has led to Wes having infections in his eye lids. Don't worry- he's on antibiotics. But doesn't he look pathetic, like he lost a fight?

5. Carly decided Wes would make a good canvas last night. This is what he looks like after his bath. He was (and still is) head to toe marker.

6. We were lucky enough to have my sister-in-law and niece stay with us for 10 days, and they just left on Sunday. We have been trying to get rid of Wes' binky, but Kalen still has hers, and also he was sick so we give in out of pity. By the time Kiernan and Kalen left, they couldn't find any of their binkies. I guess Wes was stashing them away, because he keeps sporting pretty pink bling now that we're working on taking away his binkies again.

A picture is worth a thousand words, and can sure sum up my morning.

A piranha in a tutu

So the time has come for Carly to start some extracurriculars. We thought dance would be a great place to start. Tuesday was her first day in "Little Stars," a hip hop/jazz/ballet class for 3-5 years olds.


We went that morning to buy dance clothes, and of course Carly only wanted pink. No black or white. So pink it was.


We got there early to meet her teacher, and as the girls filed in she excitedly announced "Hi! I'm Carly! This is my dance!"

Then the warmups started, and it was incredibly cute. She didn't catch on very quickly, but a group of 3-year-olds in tutus doing anything is pretty darn adorable.


Carly is a very verbal learner. The teacher would tell them to point to the front, to the side, back, etc, when doing ballet warmups at the chairs, and Carly kept pointing her fingers. Too cute! And it was moving a little fast for her, so a couple times she came over and told us, "Daddy, I'm not sure about this." She even spent some time hiding under a chair.



Solution?


Yes, my husband is the best father ever.

Marshall's take on Carly the dancer: "It's a little piranha in a tutu." Fitting.

Frozen adventure

On President's day, we took the family on a trip up the Canyon to Midway, Utah to see the ice castles. Marsh's family is visiting, so we had a big group.


The ice castles were beautiful, and the kids had fun walking through the icy tunnels.


On the way back we stopped at the lake, which is frozen over.


All across the lake there were ice fishers set up in their tents. We thought it'd be fun to walk out on the frozen lake and get some pictures.


Carly had fun making snow angels, and I think it'll be fun to take her back to the lake in the summer and try to convince her that she had walked all the way out to the middle.


It was a fun frozen adventure, and it was nice to defrost with big mugs of hot chocolate once we got home.

Loves

Carly was very excited about Valentines Day this year. She insisted that we check the mail every day for her "loves," which were just sure to come. So I sent out the facebook request for loves for my Carly, and the response was fantastic! Carly got loves in the mail every day the week of Valentines Day, and was just so excited. Here she is with her pile of Loves on V-Day.



Special thanks to both sets of grandparents, Kier and Kalen, Russ and Star, Camille, and Rachel.

Playroom

So this is the next stop in my "look at my new house" series. Part one was the upstairs bathroom, kitchen, living and dining rooms.

When deciding where to rent while in Provo, we had a few options. I really did my homework and shopped around. Over the course of a month I was probably in 30 homes. The biggest concern we had about the town home we chose was the stairs. We really wanted to be all on one level if possible, because Wes had never dealt with stairs. But this place had 3 bedrooms, the middle floor living area in my last post, and this awesome extra living area downstairs as a bonus. I immediately thought playroom. There are NO toys in the bedrooms! LOVE! And after a week, Wes was completely independent on the stairs.

I've had the playroom put together for a while, but I had one last project I was being too lazy to complete. Those rain gutter bookshelves. But I got them done this week, and I think all in all, the room turned out really cute.

This is the stairway going down. I put the aquadoodle up on the wall, which has worked out well.

A lot of the stuff is items we already had, like the toy box, hanging baskets, and valance. The rest is like Ikea exploded in our house (thank you tax refund), and the little arm chairs are potterybarn and were an awesome craigslist find. All of the riding toys- cars, strollers, shopping carts, skateboards -are in the "garage" (the closet).

The bookshelves are my DIY raingutter bookshelf project.

These shelves are the perfect place to display my favorite kids' books from my own childhood, 'My First Steps to Reading' by Jane Belk Moncure. There is a different book for each letter of the alphabet, and they each start out with the classic "Little a had a box. He wanted to fill his box...." And then the character fills the box with all items that start with his or her letter. Moncure has redone these books, but I don't know much about the newer version. I absolutely adore the original artwork of the version from 1984.

I still want to make an ABC wall art project on the wall by their table, and we need some artwork for the stairwell. But I'm finally put together enough to post some pics.

And yes, that bottom stair and landing are the location of the Great Nail Polish Disaster of 2010. Can you tell?

Book of Mormon stories

Carly has been very excited lately.


At church this year, the theme for Primary is...

...

..wow, I should know this, being a primary teacher and all....


Well, it has something to do with reading the scriptures. Probably "I love to read the scriptures." Either way, the Primary Presidency went all out and challenged the kids to read the whole Book of Mormon this year. That's a really long book with lots of strange words.

I didn't actually think we would attempt to accomplish this at our house.

But this Primary Presidency, they're crafty. They made the BOM challenge into a quest with a map.

Now, if you know Carly, you know she's big on maps. In fact, she loooooves maps. And hidden buried treasure. So when she was given her first map of '1st Nephi Island,' and was told that she'd get a treasure chest once she finished reading 1st Nephi, that was her goal.


Everyday she brings me our big family size Book of Mormon and asks to read more. I would just do the kid version, but the map is colored in chapter by chapter. So we have to stay true to the original, to be fair and all. So at first we were reading the chapter, and then summarizing in kid speak. But her eyes would glaze over, and she wouldn't hear a word. So then I started changing some of the harder words as we went.

brethren = brothers
slow to hearken = they didn't listen
wilderness = forest
etc

And she is really getting the stories! Sometimes we do multiple chapters a day because she wants to hear more of the story. Before we go on to the new chapter, I make her summarize what we've heard so far.

She loved the story of Nephi chopping off the mean guy's head to take his scriptures, and the story about Nephi's mean brothers tying him up and Heavenly Father making a big storm on the ocean until they untied him, and how the magic ball didn't work and tell them where to go unless they were being good. She can tell you all about Lehi's dream, and the big building with the bad people and the yummy fruit on the tree, and how we have to hold on to the "rail" so we don't get lost while walking to the tree.

When reading about the Liahona, I pulled up images on Google of compasses. When we read about Nephi's bow, we looked up pictures of bow and arrows.

It's really been a lot of fun!

It's also been fun to see the real life applications in her 3-year-old little world. When reading, I use the word 'whining' instead of 'murmuring.' The other day she was whining, and I asked "what happens when we whine?" The expected answer was "mommy doesn't hear me." But instead she sheepishly replied "Heavenly Father doesn't bless us."


We finished first Nephi in about 2 weeks, and she was so excited to turn in her treasure map. Now on to 2nd Nephi Beach!

Car update

After our wreck at Christmas, we got a rental and left our car in Nevada so the insurance adjuster could take a look and make a decision. Wouldn't you know, they decided it was a total loss. Apparently hammering out dents can get pretty expensive.

We negotiated back and forth on a fair price. The adjuster that went out apparently has no idea what he's doing, and we had a few conversations like this with our agent:

Us: "Umm, the car had leather seats."
Bear River Guy: "Oh, really? The adjuster wrote down cloth."
Us: "Yeah, and a towing hitch."
BRG: "Oh, he missed that too."
Us: "And a CD player, and power seats and windows, and power sliding doors, and seat warmers."
BRG: "....oops..."

Ultimately we got what we felt was a fair price.

While the car was in Nevada, we had a local mechanic look at it, and he said that the car looked great! All the fluids came out when it was on it's side, so he filled it back up, put it on a lift, and even drove it around a little. There was nothing mechanically wrong. So we offered to take the insurance company's money, and then offer to buy the car back. They sold it back to us for $600 dollars, the value of the scrap metal.

We drove back out to Nevada and picked up the car. One tire wasn't holding air very well. The front passenger door wouldn't open because the fender was dented. And the passenger mirror fell off. Other than that, all the damage was completely cosmetic.

Once back in town, I took the car to Cascade Collision Repair, where the fender was hammered out and a new mirror was put on for $118 dollars total. I took it to Big O Tires, and they determined that there was dirt in the tire beading, and they cleaned it out and called the tire good as new. For free!

Side note: This is the 3rd time in a row that I have taken a leaky tire to Big O in Springville, and they have repaired it for free. I've never given them a dime, even when I've tried. They've patched twice and rebeaded once... and won't take my money! So anyone in Utah county, take your tire business to Big O Tires in Springville. Seriously great guys!

So here's our car now.


Not incredibly pretty, but I'd say it's great for having gone on to its side. The only damage is cosmetic, and we didn't do any body work other than prying out the fender. The power doors all work- even the slider on the passenger side.

And we were able to take the money insurance gave us and pay off our other car and some other debts. Best crash ever! In all seriousness though, we have just been so fortunate throughout this whole experience.

18 months

Wes turned 18 months back on the 8th. He has been sick, so I've had to wait to get some pictures to go with this post that weren't entirely booger-encrusted. Gross, right?

So this morning, I rubbed his face raw, and just took some pics before church. And now I can post.


At Wes' 18 month appointment, his stats were as follows:

Weight: 22lbs 2ozs - 7th percentile
Height: 31.2 inches - 20th percentile
Head circumference: 18.27 inches - 15th percentile
Diapers: Size 4
Clothes: 18-24 months

This was his first appointment with our new doctor in Provo. I had tried to get his records transferred before our appointment, but shockingly it wasn't as important to the pediatrician's office receptionists as it was to me. So no records going into our appointment. The doctor walked in, reviewing Wes' measurements from that day, and said "he's small, is that normal?"

You see, when determining if a baby is a healthy size, the actual numbers aren't as important as the growth curve. This is a plotting of his proportions since birth. If he'd been 90th percentile, and then dropped suddenly to 7th, that'd be concerning. But Wes has always had a "shallow curve," as I like to call it. So thanks a lot, other pediatrician, for making this appointment worthless without those records.

I assured the doc that Wes has always been small, and that his daddy was small growing up too (did I ever mention that Marshall wrestled at 112 lbs at one point in high school?).

Otherwise, Wes is ahead in every way!

- Wes doesn't just try to jump; the kid gets air! He can jump and get both feet completely off the ground. His favorite thing is to jump straight from standing to sitting. Ouch. He thinks it's hilarious.

- Wes now fake laughs. He watches social cues and loves to throw his head back and do a hearty "Ha Ha Ha!"

- Wes talks a ton! At first, I was wondering how he would possibly compare to Carly. She was super verbal. And a girl. And a first born. All of those things meant that she had a huge vocabulary for her age growing up. I mean, Carly had more than 300 words by 2 years old. So with Wes being a boy, and being a second born, I had no expectations that he'd be near that. But here he is at 18 months, and he has 130+ words. He is well on track to having more than 300 by 2. He speaks in 3 and 4 word sentences, such as "Carly, come on! Upstairs! Let's go!" Or "Look, it's a cup."


- Wes still has terrible skin. Poor kid lives in a constant state of rashy-ness. His new doctor didn't buy the milk allergy thing (again) and suggested I try a new regimen for eczema, and then add milk back in to see if it gets worse. Well, we did that, and now he is rashed from neck to toes. Fantastic.

- Wes now is in his own room, and is fighting to give up his naps. Not happening. But it is nice that if we are out an about, he can go without a nap a day here and there and make it just fine until bedtime.

- Wes likes to try to count. He says "1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11!" Sometimes he gets hung up around 7 and will do the "7, 8, 7, 8" thing for a while.

- Wes LOVES reading stories. He asks for books anytime we walk by a bookshelf.

- Wes is starting to point out letters, and loves to say random letter names while pointing at words, usually something like "O X E E O X!"

- Wes is incredibly social and loves everyone. He's never met a stranger, which makes the new arrangement of him going to a babysitter a couple days a week so great. He just walks right in and is like "see you, mom!"

- Wes feeds himself and uses and fork and spoon pretty well. Just today he ate a bowl of cereal using a spoon, and kept his shirt more clean that Carly ever does.

- Wes is really fighting me for that binkie. He can go the whole day and his naps without it. But I try to go a night without a couple in his bed, and I am up 2 or 3 times with him. So for now, he wins the binkie war at bedtime. That does mean that I continue to have kids who sleep from 8pm to 8:30am every night.

I just love him to death! Such a handsome little guy!

That's my wuv

A couple weeks ago, I was driving the kids in the car. From the back seat I hear, "Mommy, my wuv is kisses; that's my wuv."

Oh, really?" I ask. "You're love is kisses?"

"Yep, I give kisses to show my wuv."

"Well then, what's Wes' love?" I ask her.

"Umm, Wessy's wuv is growling."

"So then what's my love?"

"Mommy, your wuv is hugs and saying 'I wuv you.'"

"Then what's Daddy's love?"


.....long pause.....


"Daddy's wuv is farting!"

"What?!"

"Yeah, he farts on Wessy's head because he wuvs him. Daddy gives us wuv farts."

Primary 2011

Carly and her 'picture of Jesus;' Jan 2nd, 2011

It's a new year, and both my kids had some big first days at church. Carly graduated nursery and is now a Sunbeam. Wes turned 18 months the first week of January, so he got to go to his first day of nursery that same day.

The kids with Marsh before church


Carly going into Sunbeams

Love the duckface!

Wes outside of his new nursery class


My kids are unusual. Instead of the normal anxiety and crying when dropped off with new people, my kids run into class and never look back. Not even a moment of tears or uneasiness when the door closes and they're all alone. Carly never had stranger anxiety as a baby. We thought it was probably just her unique personality. But Wes couldn't be more different in temperament, but he's the exact same in that aspect. Maybe even more so. When the new Relief Society presidency came by to introduce themselves, Wes was practically begging the new strange women to take him home with them. Sometimes I worry I've done something wrong. That there's something wrong with their attachment. They don't miss me! They don't prefer me to perfect strangers! But I know they're healthy kids and securely attached, so I guess it's just an anomaly both are that way. Probably the next will be uber-clingy.

Their first day in class, I of course, had to be the mom-arazzi. So I went back to check on them a few times and caught them with their classes.

Here's Carly in the hall with her class


Here's Wes moving rooms with his class. He doesn't quite get the purpose of the jumprope yet.


Speaking of Primary, anyone care to guess what my new calling is? I should have made a poll when we moved so people could guess ahead of time and get even more entertainment out of my pain. After my second Sunday, I even got a couple calls from friends and family asking if my streak was still going- had I been called yet to nursery/sunbeams? But yes, yes, it happened again. It's getting to be a rather old joke, but once again I am called as Sunbeam teacher within the first month in a new ward. I think the bishopric counselor that extended the call was a little scared when I began bawling in front of him.

You'd think that at some point my bad luck would stop. So it's either that there really is a conspiracy among wards to call the newest warm body to deal with shrieking toddlers, or these callings really are inspired...meaning that God dislikes me. Either way, for the fourth time in as many wards, I am spending my Sundays with the very age group that most tries my patience. Heaven help us all.